Fish Frenzy Quiz Night

 

South West England Sea Champion, Izzie Godden, tells us about the quiz she organised to raise funds for our work...

“After deciding to run a pub quiz to raise money for MCS I picked a date and booked the venue. I contacted Marlin Divers who offered try-dives as prizes. I set up a Facebook page with all the details and shared them at school, in the library and at the community centre.

Writing the quiz was the most time consuming task – not just questions and answers but also finding research material for hosting the event.

On the night of the quiz we arranged the tables and chairs, displayed MCS posters around the room and sorted out our raffle prizes. As people started to arrive we asked them to come up with a team name and buy a raffle ticket - overall we raised £157!”

Well done Izzy—another really popular and well organized event!

 

Izzy organised a free try-dive as a prize for the winning team courtesy of Ross Divers!

Sea Champions complete this year’s first Ecover Blue Mile event!

South West Sea Champions were quick off the mark holding this year’s first Ecover Blue Mile event! To appeal to those who are not so sporty, the team of Sea Champions organised a sponsored beach clean and Beachwatch litter survey at Black Nore Beach near Portishead, raising £200 for MCS.

In addition to the 89 drink containers, 148 bottle tops and 52 fast food boxes, the team also found a rubber duck, a whole fishing net and a vacuum cleaner!

Big thanks to all!

Would you like to hold an Ecover Blue Mile event of your own to raise funds for our amazing seas, shores and wildlife? Visit www.thebluemile.org for more information.

More photos of the UK's first Ecover Blue Mile event here.

A haul of 30 kilos of rubbish in total, including a “Henry” vacuum cleaner!

Help needed at the Big Sea Swim!

Sea Champion Vicky Saunders is
set to take on the Big Sea Swim!

Sea Champion Vicky Saunders from Essex is swimming for our seas in Eastbourne this month - come along and give her a cheer!

We have almost 50 enthusiastic swimmers taking part in this wild swim event to raise money to support keeping our seas and oceans fit for life... and to swim in! There’s still time to sign up for the event and you can register today at www.mcsuk.org/swim

When: Saturday 13th July 2013 from 12pm (swimming commences at 1pm)
Where: Eastbourne beach next to the Lifeguard First Aid post.

We need your help with cheering, awarding medals, giving out hot drinks to the swimmers, plus much more. Contact us to find out how to become an official Big Sea Swim volunteer via fundraising@mcsuk.org

Find out more about the Big Sea Swim.

Scottish Sea Champion hands in thousands of pledges for marine protection

Thanks to Sea Champions who gave a big push on the Scottish MPA campaign this Spring! The Scottish Sea Champions have been hitting events, outdoor shows and museum open days across Scotland and giving talks to Rotary clubs, schools, wildlife clubs and Cub Scouts.

Their hard work resulted in a whopping 3,750 pledges of support that Sea Champion Sarah Conner and MCS staff recently handed to the Environment Secretary. The next step will be to take part in the consultation. Watch this space!

Sea Champion Sarah Conner handing thousands of pledges to Richard Lochhead at The Scottish Parliament.

Dave completes biggest cycle ride of his life!

Fundraiser Dave Luckhurst from near Bishop's Castle in Shropshire, arrived at Land's End at 5:45pm on Thursday after cycling for 39 days and 1,220 miles all the way from John O' Groats.

Hundreds of cyclists every year take on the enormous challenge but Dave wanted to do something different as the regular route just wasn't challenging enough. So he did it off-road as much as possible!

Using bridleways, forest trails, canal towpaths, mountain tracks and disused railway lines, Dave aimed to achieve as much as 50% off road. On a mountain bike, with a trailer! Scotland provided the highest amount of off-road possibilities, ranging from 70-100% each day, but as he progressed south the opportunities became less, so only 15-20% was possible by the time he got to the SW region.

"The highlight has to be going through Scotland where I cycled through all seasons. Spring suddenly caught up with Summer with an explosion of colour and growth - hedgerows and wild flower meadows were awash with colour, it was truly amazing, and certainly a life-changing experience."

"Even after I’ve completed the ride, I’d like to see others trying it, improving it, modifying it, finding parallel routes." says Dave. Find out more at www.dave-in-the-rough.co.uk

Everyone at MCS is in awe of his achievement! We are incredibly grateful for the fundraising he has been doing too, which will go a long way to help protect our amazing seas. Dave has raised over £400 for MCS and Greenpeace and if you’ve been inspired you can sponsor him here or if you’d like to take on a challenge yourself, please get in touch with the fundraising team via fundraising@mcsuk.org



Intrepid cyclist Dave Luckhurst stops off at MCS HQ for some cake and to talk about just how much he wants to Marine Conservation Zones work in English and offshore Welsh seas.

 

and finally, at Land's End after 1,220 miles and 39 days cycling!

Death of Ron Crosby

We are sorry to announce that Ron Crosby, a founder member of the Marine Conservation Society, and Chairman of the Lancashire MCS Local Group for many years, passed away on Sunday evening (23rd June 2013) after a short illness.

He was a driving force behind the group for some years, and we will miss his enthusiasm, knowledge and unrivalled experience of diving in the UK. He was also active in a number of globally significant marine wildlife conservation projects, particularly that in the Chagos Islands.

Our thoughts are with his wife Rita, also a staunch supporter of the group, and his family.

Ron Crosby on the summit of Ben Nevis in 2006 during the 3-Peaks challenge, a fund raising event for National MCS.

"Hang on to your tackle" gets going in Scotland

The “Hang on to your tackle!” pilot has began in Scotland with the first angling litter bins installed.

Sea Champions helped fundraise for the bins at Big Beach Clean-up events, before installing the bins at two beaches in Fife, to help reduce discarded tackle on our beaches. Look out for more bins popping up around Scotland - the next four have been kindly purchased by the Fife Coast and Countryside Trust.

Would you like to get involved in the "Hang on to your tackle" campaign? You can download support materials here or contact your Volunteer Coordinator.

Our new angling litter bins in Fife - these ones are at Kingsbars and at Ruby Bay, Elie.